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“My daughter invited me to write on her website today, on the occassion of Father’s Day. She asked me to cook and write about a particular dish that I would make for her and her siblings, back in the old days – Macaroni & Cheese with Vegetables.

It is my pleasure to share one of my culinary concoction with all the readers of this blog. As you would have read in one of the previous posts, my wife i.e. Vasanti’s mom, has always played the role of the “Head Chef” in our family. I like cooking but I must admit, I like eating food more than making it. I leave that to my wife, as she is really good at it! I do cook once in a while, just for a change or to give her a break.

I used to step into the kitchen a lot more when the kids were a lot younger. I would serve eggs, made to order for breakfast on Sundays or make Mac & Cheese for dinner on weeknights….it used to be the kids’ favorite…and mine too. It’s a dish that I learnt from my maternal grandfather, who would make it for me back in my childhood days. It’s a simple stove top recipe in which macaroni is cooked with fresh vegetables, eggs, bread and of course cheese! Lastly, I top it up with some tomato ketchup and put my signature on it…..my kids used to love it so much that they would lick their plates clean!

Here’s my ‘signature’ Mac & Cheese. Hope you can use my recipe and make special memories with it, just like I did! Please let me know if you gave it a try by leaving a comment in the section below.”

Add a generous quantity of salt to the boling water and throw in the pasta. Cook until al dente (tender but still firm to the bite), stirring occasionally, about 10 mins.

While the pasta cooks, prepare the sauce. In a large frying pan, melt butter or heat oil over medium heat and sauté onion, capsicum, cauliflower and bread for 4-5 mins till onion gets translucent, the bread gets a little soggy and the cauliflower and capsicum are half cooked, but still have a little crunch.

Season with salt and pepper and break the eggs in to this mixture. Mix well and continue stirring for a min or so.

Drain the cooked pasta and stir it into the the pan along with the vegetables and eggs. Mix well so that the eggs coat the pasta as they cook. Adjust seasonings.

Transfer pasta to a warm serving bowl. Top with grated cheese and squeeze tomato ketchup over it. Serve warm.